Chapter 94 — Opposing Forces

After hanging up the phone, Mu Ran’s slender, delicate hand gently knocked on the door of the makeup room.

“Can’t you be more careful? My hair is expensive—if you damage it, you couldn’t afford to pay for it even with several months of your salary. I don’t know what you actually do all day!”

“Who is it? Come in.”

Xu Yunshu had just finished berating the makeup artist, her heavily made-up face flushed with anger. “Mu Ran?”

When she saw who had entered, Xu Yunshu instinctively moved her phone behind her back, hiding it.

“Why are you still here, Ms. Xu?”

The other guests had already left, yet Xu Yunshu lingered...

“Oh, I have a gala tonight. Since there’s a makeup artist in the group, and I get along well with this young lady, I asked her to touch up my makeup.”

Mu Ran’s bright eyes flickered as she glanced at the young makeup artist, Xiao Kui, who stood with her head bowed, brows furrowed in distress, nervously twisting her fingers, clearly wronged.

“Xiao Kui, you can go now. I have something to discuss with Ms. Xu.”

Mu Ran’s gentle tone soothed the aggrieved makeup artist’s heart.

“Alright, Sister Mu Ran.”

Xiao Kui shot a furtive glance at Xu Yunshu’s now stormy expression. She nodded and bowed, saying, “Ms. Xu, your makeup is done. I’m really not good at doing hair, so I’ll call another stylist from the team.”

“Hm, go ahead and hurry up. Tonight’s gala is very important,” Xu Yunshu replied, her gaze as sharp as a blade.

“No need, Xiao Kui. I’ll do Ms. Xu’s hair. You go rest—you shouldn't be forced to work overtime after your shift. By the way, what’s your hourly wage?”

Xiao Kui froze at the door, pointing at herself. “Me? My hourly wage?”

Mu Ran smiled silently.

Xu Yunshu, ever shrewd, instantly understood Mu Ran’s implication.

“Five hundred an hour.”

Xiao Kui was simple and answered whatever she was asked.

“It’s been two hours since the recording ended. That’s a thousand. Ms. Xu, please settle up with Xiao Kui.”

Xu Yunshu sneered, “She volunteered.”

“Volunteered? I don’t see it. Xiao Kui, are you in a hurry for an exam?”

Xiao Kui clutched her backpack straps tightly, nodding miserably, biting her lip, not daring to look at Xu Yunshu’s harsh, menacing face.

Standing behind Xu Yunshu’s chair, Mu Ran patted the back of it and slowly approached Xiao Kui, taking the exam permit from her hand. “A-level makeup artist exam? Four o’clock in the afternoon? But it’s already six-thirty.”

“Ms. Xu, you made this young lady miss her exam. According to the labor law, overtime pays triple the hourly wage. So you should pay Xiao Kui... ten thousand?”

“What?”

“What!”

Both Xiao Kui and Xu Yunshu stared at the unruffled Mu Ran.

“Mu Ran, did you say ten thousand?”

“Ten thousand.”

Xiao Kui tugged at Mu Ran’s sleeve, whispering, “Sister Mu Ran, it doesn’t have to be so much. I... I can do without.”

Mu Ran looked down at the petite, adorable Xiao Kui, then followed her gaze to Xu Yunshu’s venomous, warning eyes.

“Ms. Xu is a top actress. She’s not short of money.”

Xu Yunshu stood up, grabbed her phone from behind her, and said through gritted teeth, “I’ll scan your code.”

Her ferocious look made Xiao Kui shrink back in fear as she approached.

“Alipay transfer of ten thousand yuan—”

Watching Xiao Kui leave in high spirits, Xu Yunshu sat back down, fuming, her phone hidden behind her, arms folded across her chest. “Mu Ran, what exactly do you want?”

Mu Ran stood behind her, placing both hands on Xu Yunshu’s shoulders, her tone icy, her presence overpowering. “Ms. Xu, you’re going to a gala tonight? Where’s your own makeup artist?”

Xu Yunshu shifted uncomfortably but found she couldn’t move at all. “My makeup artist is too far away. I didn’t want to trouble her.”

“Oh, I thought you’d left your old team.”

Xu Yunshu smirked, “That’s right. My previous company wasn’t a good fit. I’m with SY now.”

“SY?”

Mu Ran’s voice brimmed with surprise and admiration.

“Yes, SY.”

“The new film and TV company in the capital? Ms. Xu, you’re truly impressive to sign with such a powerful company.”

Xu Yunshu didn’t notice the amusement and mockery flickering in Mu Ran’s eyes.

“Yes, the very well-funded SY. There’s nothing to envy—it’s all based on merit. You’re doing well at Star City Pictures too.”

Her tone was full of superiority.

Mu Ran curled her lips, her voice languid and relaxed. “I’m not with Star City Pictures. I have no boss.”

“Oh, right—how forgetful of me. You have your own studio. I just thought, given your connection with President Gu...”

A flash of ridicule passed through Xu Yunshu’s eyes as she turned to confront Mu Ran, ready to mock her.

But as soon as she moved her head, Mu Ran turned it back.

“I’m not as capable as Ms. Xu, who signed with SY Group.”

“Don’t move, Ms. Xu. Let me do your hair. You must have worked hard all these years—managing both your career and raising a child.”

A subtle tension simmered between the two women before the dressing room mirror.

Xu Yunshu felt a growing sense of dread.

Did Mu Ran know something?

She deliberately sat further back, pressing her phone beneath her.

Mu Ran raised her eyes, catching Xu Yunshu’s pale, anxious face in the mirror. “What’s wrong, Ms. Xu? Is it such a secret that you bore an illegitimate child for an old tycoon from Hong Kong?”

Xu Yunshu forced a smile at Mu Ran’s reflection, her words squeezed through clenched teeth, “Mu Ran, what do you want?”

Mu Ran didn’t reply, only met Xu Yunshu’s gaze in the mirror, the cold amusement in her eyes unmistakable.

Xu Yunshu’s eyes brimmed with caution and wariness, her whole body taut, heart pounding wildly as she anxiously awaited Mu Ran’s next move.

“All done. How is it?”

Mu Ran cupped Xu Yunshu’s head in her hands. “This hairstyle suits you well.”

In the mirror, Xu Yunshu’s hair was piled high, but instead of adding any elegance or nobility, it only made her look aged and out of place, clashing terribly with her makeup.

Xu Yunshu looked ten years older.

“Now you look your real age!”

As Xu Yunshu stood to inspect her hair, Mu Ran seized the opportunity to snatch the phone hidden behind her.

“What, you’re shipping me with Gu Beicheng too?”

Mu Ran raised the phone, the screen showing a photo. Her voice turned icy, her entire demeanor chilling.

“Why do you have my phone?”

“How did you unlock it?”

Mu Ran smirked, saying nothing. Her bright eyes glinted dangerously.

“I saw you unlock it earlier.”

Mu Ran had been wondering how to get Xu Yunshu to hand over her secretly taken photos, but she hadn’t expected Xu Yunshu to be so careless, unlocking her phone for the payment right in front of her.

Fools don’t always have good fortune.

“Give me my phone, Mu Ran! I warn you, don’t mess with me.”

Xu Yunshu lunged at Mu Ran in desperation, but Mu Ran stepped aside easily.

Mu Ran opened Weibo on Xu Yunshu’s phone and accessed the draft box. There, a scheduled post was waiting to go out.

The caption read:

“Third-rate actress Mu Ran leads a dissolute private life—getting cozy with Cheng Beigu on a variety show while seducing Star City’s president Gu Beicheng in private. Once a champion skier, now reduced to a hostess!”

Attached were intimate photos of Mu Ran from “Immersed in the Script Shark,” as well as shots taken after the show ended, showing her and Gu Beicheng leaving hand in hand.

If these photos were exposed, Mu Ran’s reputation would be utterly destroyed—and the true identity of “Cheng Beigu” would also be revealed.

A cold smile played at Mu Ran’s lips as she watched Xu Yunshu’s panicked face. With a tap, she deleted the post, then formatted the phone and tossed it back to her.

“Xu Yunshu, it seems you really want to make an enemy of me?”

“Mu Ran, no! Why would I? What right do you have to format my phone?”

Xu Yunshu crouched on the floor, frantically fiddling with her phone, nearly collapsing as she clutched her head and shrieked, “Mu Ran! There was important information on it! How could you!”

Mu Ran sneered, crouching down to face her, her tone icy and menacing as she lifted Xu Yunshu’s trembling chin with a finger.

“Lots of photos of your son on there, right? Oh, and those bed pictures you use to blackmail the Hong Kong tycoon too, hmm?”

Xu Yunshu jerked away, her face contorted with rage. “How do you know!”

“I know plenty more about you.”

The chill in Mu Ran’s smile made Xu Yunshu shudder.

“I have a gala to attend. I’m leaving now. Mu Ran, don’t think you can do whatever you want just because you’re with Gu Beicheng. When he gets bored of you, you’ll know what suffering is.”

“Is that so? We’ll see who gets bored of whom.”

Xu Yunshu knew she couldn’t outwit Mu Ran, no matter what she said or did.

“Hmph.”

With a furious glare, Xu Yunshu gripped her phone tightly and strode out.

“Xu Yunshu, if you keep taking secret photos or doing filthy things, I won’t just use words next time.”

Xu Yunshu froze, her back to Mu Ran.

Her fists clenched, her whole body trembling as she fought the urge to look back at the icy woman behind her.

“I know you have backups of those photos. Delete them.”

With a cold snort, Xu Yunshu left.

Mu Ran, standing in the dressing room, let out a series of cold laughs. Xu Yunshu’s good days were over.

Xu Yunshu, see you tonight at the SY gala.